AN: I'm sorry, so very sorry. My muse for Avatar (especially Zutara) has been nearly dead lately, and I finally managed to write something decent for this. Next update - I don't know. IT might come soon, might be a while.

Thank you very much for reading!

A Princess's Legacy

Chapter Six

On the Outside Looking In

I dipped my finger into the goop, glancing into the misshapen clay bowl and then up at my reflection. The polished bronze swallowed my face and made me feel even more invisible than normal. Turning over my shoulder, I rubbed my thumb and first finger together experimentally. "Are you sure this stuff is safe? It won't, you know, make me break out in oozing sores or anything?"

Xi shrugged and let her long hair brush the ground, the blood rushing to her head as she swayed in the hammock. "I don't know what exactly it's made from, but my sister—she's an actress, you know, got the lead role in Love Amongst the Dragons this year—uses it for stage stuff and whatnot. She's got perfect skin, and sometimes she doesn't even bother washing it off. It just sits there, smudges a little, and then it gets crusty and starts flaking off…"

"Okay, I think I get the picture," I said. She shrugged again and started doing sit-ups. I eyed her perfect abs and started wishing that I had borrowed something a bit less revealing. My costume was deep turquoise, with trailing, translucent sleeves that I nearly tripped on. My stomach was completely exposed, but thankfully the skirt ended (somewhat) modestly at my knees. On the flip side, the fabric dipped into a V at the neck, something I'd tried to ignore. That had been the perfect quick fix, but when I had to actually take it off Xi's rack and wear it in front of all those men…Agni, what was I doing?

The maroon face paint had also been Xi's idea. Jiang Lin had recruited her to play some sort of zither for her band. I was to dance around and waterbend in time with their music. I hoped I wouldn't run out of tricks during the performance.

I smudged the paint in interlocking swirls, framing my eyebrows and accentuating my high cheekbones. When that was done, Xi wordlessly handed me kohl to line my eyes. I jumped halfway out of my skin when I felt the stranger's warm hands on my back.

"You look gorgeous," she breathed in my ear.

I stood behind the curtain, swathed by dust, staring through a hole almost as large as my palm. My heart was jumping around like a startled rabbaroo, and I saw spots before my eyes. I took a deep, shuddering breath and tugged nervously on my dress. Behind me, I heard the sungi hornist end her warm up. Giving myself a firm shake, I turned on my bare heel and took my place in the shadows. As the ratty curtains parted, Jiang Lin looked over her shoulder and grinned. I mustered a weak smile in return.

The first song began quietly, a mournful melody that held so much sorrow I feared it would burst. Stepping into the crowd's view, I swayed with the beat. During the beginning of the first verse, when Jiang Lin began to sing, I called the water to me, weaving it through the air. After the first minute, the audience seemed to disappear. Even the music faded into the background except for the pulse, like the heartbeat of a frozen frog.

I was startled out of this trance when the first song ended, and the dining hall rang with applause. I noticed that the band members had tears spilling silently from their eyes. For the first time since I'd left home, I realized how much of an outsider I was. However hospitable Jiang Lin and her friends had been to me, we would be arriving the next evening. Was this song a lament for a lost parent or sibling? Or was it a tribute to a lover or close friend?

Thankfully, the next song was fast-paced. I became instantly engrossed in my waterbending, letting the liquid cool my limbs as I moved. The crowd finally seemed to have cut loose; the benches were hastily shoved back and dances of every persuasion were being attempted below. By the third song, most people had crashed on the floor, drunk and tired.

I walked hesitantly forward to the edge of the stage as our performance ended, the hoarse yells of the men and whoops of the women falling on my ears. With Jiang Lin on my left, and the rest of the band falling into place on my right, we took long bows until the cheers died faded away. Then the others grabbed their instruments and we made room for our successors.

"You gonna stay for the rest?" asked Jiang Lin. A man stumbling around grabbed her waist, grinning stupidly. I couldn't help giggling as she kicked him swiftly, sending him sprawling across the floor.

"I don't think so," I told her, now struggling to yell over the music. "I just want to get this thing off already."

She nodded and wriggled her way between two fully engaged couples, disappearing into the sea of bodies. Without lingering another moment, I squeezed my way to the door and walked quickly to my room, anxious to be alone and asleep.

AN: How was it? Better than the last chapters? Worse?

(I love reviews!)